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Day 158 (November 7, 2015)

I was up at the usual time, give or take. I gravitated to the kitchen since every floor was occupied by sleeping bodies.

The friends that are here I met as a result of a funeral of a really neat church elder named Harry. I’d love to digress and tell that story, but I guess I won’t for the sake of whatever.

The first wave got up at 6:00am to take care of an oil change. The second wave included Jessie and was up at 7:00am. They were awakened by, strangely enough, a foghorn. The third wave was up about 8:00am. Breakfast commenced. It was a cinnamon Danish and there were bananas and oranges and Tang and hot chocolate. Basically, it was sucrose or fructose; take your pick, with a vitamin thrown in for good measure. Three or four work clusters started on all manner of work. Closets shelves were painted. The exposed re-bar in the cistern was treated for rust (two coats). The leaves were raked. The holes in the baseboard were filled with wood filler and sanded. Ditto the stair risers. The last of the yard debris was put into a roller dumpster. The last of the mortar was put around the glass block windows. A few of the brass screws and finishing cap washers were installed in the window stops. The old windows were washed with vinegar and dried with newspaper. The floors were swept and scrubbed. The dishwasher was filled, run, and emptied. The kitchen floor was swept and mopped. The glass block window frames were painted with concrete paint. Two closet rods were installed and shelves were added to three closets. Felt sliders were put on the bottoms of the dressers and they were moved upstairs. By the end of the day, it looked like a different house. It wasn’t that anything major got done; it’s just the cumulative effect of seven people working in concert for twelve hours that brought the total picture into clearer focus.

Jessie helped with different workplaces throughout the day and tried to coax different workers to quit working and play. More than once, Jessie succeeded. Working or not, Jessie just enjoys getting caught up in the maelstrom.

Lunch was chili and supper was Little Caesar’s. All day long, the crew snacked on the baked goods Jessie and I made on Friday.

After we quit work, three of the workers went on an errand; four stayed back.

I haven’t mentioned it, but Jessie and I make steady progress on Anne of Green Gables. We get to visit with Anne every day once, if not three times.

So, we read Bible and prayed. Three went to bed on the second floor. Two went to bed on the first floor. Two went to bed on the basement floor. For each, as they individually drifted off to sleep, day 158 ended.

Blessings: If you thought things were done and the house was cleaner at the end of day 157, you should a seen things at the end of day 158. Getting many of those annoying loose threads on the to-do list tied up. A house filled with laughter. Having old friends in the house. Telling friends about how God has blessed the last ten weeks and letting them experience the journey we’re on.